The prevalence of tuberculosis has halved in China over the last 20 years, with rates falling from 170 to 59 per 100,000 population. This unrivalled success has been driven by a massive scale-up of the directly observed, short-course (DOTS) strategy, from half the population in the 1990s to the entire country after 2000, suggest findings from a 20-year-long analysis of national survey data, published in iThe Lancet/i. "One of the key global TB targets set by ...

Women having heart attack are often misdiagnosed as anxiety and this can lead to delay in treatment and prove to be fatal, said a study Monday. Researchers at McGill University in Montreal set out to understand sex differences in mortality rates for men and women with acute coronary syndrome. They asked 1,123 patients aged 18 to 55 to fill out a survey after being admitted to one of 24 hospitals in Canada, one in the United States and one in Switzerland. ...

The latest research from two pioneering scientists selected as this year's Kavli lecturers at the 247th National Meeting (and) Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, include Brain sensors and electronic tags that dissolve and Boosting the potential of renewable energy sources. The meeting features more than 10,000 presentations from the frontiers of chemical research, and is being held here through Thursday. Two of these ...

The risk of hepatitis C associated serious liver disease still remains a problem in HIV patients who otherwise benefit from antiretrovial therapy to treat HIV, reveal a new study Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. It has been suggested that ART slows hepatitis C-associated liver fibrosis; however, whether rates of severe liver complications in patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C receiving ART were similar to those with just ...

Earlier detection of preeclampsia is possible with identifying biomarkers, a finding that can result in healthier mothers and children, reveals a study from the Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR) and the MR Cancer Group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Their findings, "Metabolomic Biomarkers in Serum and Urine in Women with Preeclampsia," will be published in iPLOS ONE/i on 17 March. "We have found that the metabolism ...

Current guidelines restricting the consumption of saturated fats and encouraging the consumption of polyunsaturated fats in the prevention of heart disease is questioned by a new study. The research was published today, 18 March, in the journal iAnnals of Internal Medicine/i. An international research collaboration led by the University of Cambridge analysed existing cohort studies and randomised trials on coronary risk and fatty acid intake. They showed that ...

No link between saturated fats and heart disease has been identified by scientists. An international research collaboration led by the University of Cambridge analysed existing cohort studies and randomised trials on coronary risk and fatty acid intake. They showed that current evidence does not support guidelines which restrict the consumption of saturated fats in order to prevent heart disease. The researchers also found insufficient ...

Cardiovascular benefits of oats goes beyond fibre, reveals study. The phenolic compound avenanthramide (AVE) - found only in oats - may possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-itch and anti-cancer properties. It suggests that oat AVEs may play an important role in protecting the heart. Eating whole grains is consistently associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease. "Our ...

About one in eight doctor visits for a headache or migraine are found to undergo a brain scan, amounting to a total cost of about (Dollar) 1 billion each year, reveals a new study at University of Michigan Medical School. And many of those MRI and CT scans - and costs - are probably unnecessary, given the very low odds that serious issues lurk in the patients' brains. In fact, several national guidelines for doctors specifically discourage scanning the brains ...

3,200-year-old skeleton of a man with a spreading form of cancer has been identified by archaeologists. The remains of a man believed to be aged between 25 and 35 were found last year in a tomb in Sudan on the banks of the River Nile by a student at Durham University in northeast England. The bones showed evidence of metastatic carcinoma, or a malignant soft-tumour cancer which has spread from the original site to other parts of the body, although ...

The evolution of the antibiotic-resistant bacterium iKlebsiella pneumoniae/i sequence type 258 (ST258) has been tracked by NIH scientists. ST258 is an important agent of hospital-acquired infections. While researchers had previously thought that ST258 iK. pneumoniae/i strains spread from a single ancestor, the NIH team showed that the strains arose from at least two different lineages. The investigators also found that the key difference between the two ...

A study at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) finds that equal numbers of patients actually gain weight after hip or knee replacement, although some are able to achieve this goal. Many overweight patients have the best intentions to lose weight after joint replacement. Researchers also determined that patients who lose weight do better in terms of function and activity level two years down the road. "Our findings represent the first report to present ...

In Jammu and Kashmir, the scarcity of machines and apparatus in the primary health care units adds to people's woes. The health care units lack basic facilities like X-ray and Ultrasonography (USG) machines, compelling the patients to go all the way to Anantnag district to get these medical examinations done. A resident of Akingam, Mustaq Ahmad, on Monday said that despite the hospital building being good enough and the availability of staff in the ...

Scientists are building tiny, "molecular drill bits" that kill bacteria by bursting through their protective cell walls, in response to drug-resistant "superbugs" that send millions of people to hospitals around the world. They presented some of the latest developments on these drill bits, better known to scientists as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), at the 247th National Meeting (and) Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific ...

Body odor is a deer hunter's worst enemy, an alert to animals that an ominous presence is lurking. But the science behind suppressing it to give hunters an edge oddly enough could help researchers develop a life-saving device for diabetes patients. Scientists today presented the latest advances that tie together these two seemingly unrelated fronts at the 247th National Meeting (and) Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest ...

To Figure out how white blood cells move, it requires an interdisciplinary approach involving engineering and biological sciences. The lead author of the study is Effie Bastounis, a member of a team led by UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering professors Lasheras and Juan Carlos del Alamo, of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Richard A. Firtel, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Division of Biological Sciences. "This ...

French biomedical firm Carmat said it expected to try again to implant its experimental artificial heart in another patient "in several weeks", after its first recipient died. Artificial hearts have been in use for many years as a temporary fix for patients with chronic heart problems, but the Carmat product aims to provide a longer-term solution to enable hospitalised patients to return home and lead normal lives. Philippe Pouletty, Carmat co-founder, ...

A two-year-old girl from Cambodia has died from bird flu, becoming the country's fourth confirmed fatality - all children - from the deadly virus this year, health authorities said. The girl from the southern province of Kampot died on Friday a day after she was admitted to hospital, the health ministry said in a joint statement with the World Health Organisation (WHO). Tests confirmed she had contracted the H5N1 virus, it said, adding the girl had ...

After Assam has banned consumption of harmful tobacco-based pan masala and gutka products, a cross section of people in Kerala have called for a similar legislation in the state. People say the desired impact of the ban - of reducing the public health burden - cannot be achieved unless consumption is also prohibited. "Since our state banned these products in 2012, we have been taking stringent action against violators," said K. Anil Kumar, commissioner ...

The rise of new strains of TB which are resistant to drugs pose grave threat worldwide, warns Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres. The charity said that the efforts to fight multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) have been "inadequate" and they have called for an "immediate international response" to find new treatments, the Independent reported. Despite continuous efforts TB still kills about 1.3 million people every year. The new strains ...

There is a possibility that Brazil 2014 will be remembered as the dengue fever World Cup. Dengue, an infection spread by mosquitoes, "could be a significant problem" in some of the host cities, a leading British expert has warned, amid growing evidence that the disease is "on the march" around the world. Brazil saw well over a million cases last year and the global tally now totals, by some estimates, around 400 million annually, the Independent reported. ...

Many parents are guilty of encouraging behaviour in their children which may raise their risk of suffering from obesity later in their life. Such behaviour includes infant feeding patterns such as putting a baby to bed with a bottle or allowing them to watch TV while feeding. It also includes not allowing the baby enough "tummy time" -- when a baby lies on her belly to play while a parent supervises, according to a new study that will be published ...

For 48 years, a Chinese woman had a bullet lodged in head, and she was apparently unaware about it. She has finally got it removed by doctors, News.com.au reported. The 62-year-old woman, identified in local media only by her surname Zhao, had a bullet 2.5cm long and 0.5cm in diameter extracted from her head. She had gone to the doctors complaining about a chronic stuffy nose, headaches and swollen lymph nodes that had bothered her for 10 ...

Men who received androgen deprivation as a treatment as opposed to surgery and radiation for prostate cancer did not live longer than those who received no treatment, a study found. The research team, led by scientists at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, say that the risks of serious adverse events associated with the treatment - which has been linked to impaired cognition, heart disease, diabetes and other disorders - "mitigates against any clinical or policy ...

With the last bit of stable ice sheet on Greenland turning unstable, a rise in sea levels can be expected soon, a new study found. The findings of the study, which could lead to higher estimates of expected sea level rise in the future, appears in the latest edition of the journal 'Nature Climate Change'. The study focuses on ice loss due to a retreat of an "outlet glacier" connected to a long "river" of ice, or the "ice stream", that drains ice from ...

The reactions that sustain life can be triggered by amyloid plaques, a hallmark of diseases like Alzheimer's acting as catalyst, a new research revealed. The latest research by Ivan Korendovych at Syracuse University in New York pointed towards amyloids containing short chains of amino acids, known as peptides, New Scientist reported. To find out if amyloids can behave like enzymes too, Korendovych and his team designed seven simple peptides that were ...

Scientists are now looking at ways to harness the power of motion to charge mobile phones Zhong Lin Wang, Ph.D., and his team, including graduate student Long Lin who presented their work at the 247th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), have set out to transform the way we look at mechanical energy. Conventional energy sources have so far relied on century-old science that requires scattered, costly power plants and a grid to ...

Management of joint pain is difficult for any runner. Fitness expert Kristoph Thompson shares his tips in managing joint pain to help prevent sporting injuries and maintain healthy strong joints, reports femalefirst.co.uk. b * Maintain healthy weight: This can be beneficial on joints. One study claimed that losing about a pound of weight delivers almost a four pound reduction in knee joint load for each step. * Warm up/cool down: Invest time to ...

The popularity of outdoor exercises in an effort to workout in fresh air has been substantially increased whereby one in three women are shunning working out at the gym as per research.. In an effort to workout in fresh air, 56 percent of health enthusiasts said they would definitely not be returning to the gym, femalefirst.co.uk reports. The increasing popularity of functional workouts, boot camps and small group personal training sessions has fuelled ...

A widespread uptake of colonoscopy has been the main reason for 30 percent drop in the colon cancer incidence rates as compared to last decade among American aged 50 and above.. The findings come from Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2014, published in the March/April issue of iCA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians/i. The article and its companion report, Colorectal Cancer Facts (and) Figures, were released today by American Cancer Society researchers as part of a new ...

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), a form of blood cancer which often requires repeated chemotherapy treatment can now be treated in a novel and unique way as per researchers. The researchers, led by Alexey V. Danilov, MD, PhD, assistant professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Hematologist-Oncologist at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, modeled the lymph node microenvironment where CLL cells are found in the laboratory. They were ...

Researchers predict that global warming can reduce crop yields in many parts of the world starting from 2030s onwards, further worsening the global food shortages A study, published in the latest issue of journal 'Nature Climate Change', contends that the impact of climate change on crops will vary both from year-to-year and geographically, with the variability becoming greater as the weather becomes more and more erratic. However, crops in the temperate ...

In a unique series of concerts in Paris, two dozen stone chimes used by our prehistoric forefathers will make music once more, thousands of years after they resonated in caves. Known as lithophones, the instruments have been dusted off from museum storage to be played in public for the first time to give modern Man an idea of his ancestral sounds. After just three shows -- two on Saturday (March 22) and a third the following Monday -- the precious stones ...

A new study presented at the 247th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) reports on the development of a 'breathing' battery that can provide more energy than those made up of lithium-ion technology and could be used in electric vehicles (EVs). "Lithium-air batteries are lightweight and deliver a large amount of electric energy," Nobuyuki Imanishi, Ph.D said. "Many people expect them to one day be used in electric vehicles," ...